Why the Triborough Amendment Crushes All of Us

The following was submitted to Sane in Bedford by Howland Robinson:

Last November, Lt. Governor Ravitch said that both Dem and Repub legislators viewed reducing education spending as a ticket to an election loss, because it would provoke opposition from the Teachers’ Union. Well, the times, they are, a-changin’, and guess who’s ignoring the conventional wisdom?

Recently, 3 Democrat Assemblymen, Sam Hoyt (Buffalo), Ginny Fields (Suffolk County) and Michael Benjamin (Bronx), wrote the Union, saying that salaries are the single largest fixed cost in every school budget; that teachers must be part of the solution and voluntarily give up pay raises statewide this year to save more than $1 billion and prevent layoffs and larger class sizes; and that at a time when many people in the private sector have had their earnings drop significantly, public sector employees should give back something, too. The Buffalo News commented, "That Assembly Democrats — a group long accused by fiscal conservatives as being cozy with the state's big teachers union — would call on the president of the NYS United Teachers to help push for a pay freeze and signals the recognition by many rank-and-file lawmakers of the state's fiscal plight." Readers might gratefully recall that Bedford town officials, such as Lee Roberts and Boo Fumagalli, did without salary increases in 2009 and 2010.

But it's not just the state, Roberts, and Fumagalli biting the bullet. Friends and neighbors are losing jobs, having pay/bonus cuts, paying more taxes, moving to lower cost homes and low-tax states, watching their savings and investments for retirement and children’s education decline, reducing discretionary and charitable spending, and either can’t sell their houses, or sell at reduced prices. Reduced resident spending causes local businesses to suffer. Many fear the economic worst is yet to come. In such circumstances, a Union’s wish for salary and benefit increases (and resulting property tax increase), finds fewer receptive ears. Union focus on the larger economic forest rather than a one track focus on the salary trees would win more friends and influence more people. And some teachers are taxpayers. And some doubtless would like to be were property taxes lower.

Fiscal responsibility voters who elected Castelli, Astorino, Roberts, Chryssos, and Corcoran should understand the Triborough Amendment. NY is the only state that has one. Google for details, but the nutshell explanation is that Triborough is a credit card with required minimum SPENDING (in addition to payments) that, come hell or high water, regardless of outside economic conditions, you can’t cancel. Imagine your credit card institution requiring you to spend more when times are bad! Triborough prevents a teachers’ contract from ever expiring. Until a new contract is signed, the existing package of salary, benefits, automatic raises continues ad infinitum. Like Terminator, IT’S BACK. And in any new contract negotiation the Union thinks, “the existing contract is the worst deal we can get, let's ask for more.” Our, and all, NYS school board member wears Triborough handcuffs.

Think it doesn’t matter? My total annual Bedford property taxes consist of school (about 60% of the total), town (20%), and county (20%). Of the school portion, salary and benefits are about 70%. 70% of 60% is 42%. So about 40% of my total property tax bill is controlled on the down side by Triborough.

How to change Triborough? It's up to the voters. A school board and a union can change it by ignoring it in their contract; the Bedford Union so far refuses to do that. The NYS legislature can repeal it in whole or in part. A repeal bill has been introduced by Assemblyman Bob Castelli, keeping his pre-election promise. The most common partial change solution is, at expiration, to freeze existing salary/benefits package without increases of any kind. Freeze is the position endorsed by the NYS School Boards Association, the Westchester-Putnam School Boards Assn. (to which our district belongs), and the Suozzi Commission.

The good ship, Bedford, is in danger of sinking. The Teachers Union wants a lifeboat for its members, a salary increase. Instead, how about helping to keep the economic ship afloat for everyone by joining the 3 Triborough-defying assemblymen who are calling for a salary freeze?